


We Rise at Sunset

by jinmints



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gay Panic, M/M, Tags will be updated as chapters are updated, Vampire: The Masquerade - Freeform, Vampires, dirk is ventrue i thought long nd hard about this, dirkjohn is the hill i will die on, oh how could i forget, uhhh, vampire lore is based on vampire: the masquerade lore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 09:17:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18427601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinmints/pseuds/jinmints
Summary: "Ever since he died, Dirk spent a lot more time brooding than he would have liked to admit. Wasn’t that what was expected, anyway? To become a creature of the night would be to walk the city streets alone, doomed to an eternity of loneliness.God. His internal monologue was first in line to win the award for being the hottest new edgy YA fiction love interest."





	We Rise at Sunset

**Author's Note:**

> look at me i can write things that aren't hypnosis holy shit
> 
> i say that like there won't be mind control later on in this fic sdjfhdsjh sorry

Ever since he died, Dirk spent a lot more time brooding than he would have liked to admit. Wasn’t that what was expected, anyway? To become a creature of the night would be to walk the city streets alone, doomed to an eternity of loneliness.

God. His internal monologue was first in line to win the award for being the hottest new edgy YA fiction love interest. Sweep me off my feet, dark stranger. Whisk me away into the night. Big fucking swoon.

Still, the ocean was a fantastic place to brood, especially at 2AM. The beach was deserted, the pier closed, the beach bars finally closing for the night. The background noise of heavy bass and shitty local DJs finally faded, eventually being overtaken by the crashing of the waves. Dirk took a deep breath in. Not because he needed to, or anything. He stopped needing oxygen a long time ago. It just felt like the kind of thing he should be doing. Dramatic sighs, quintessential to the brooding process.

Besides. Breathing made him feel human again, at least for a second.

Dirk stared out into the ocean horizon. Yup. There’s still ocean, even all the way out there. It was a shame that vampires weren’t known for their swimming skills, or Dirk would have been long gone by now. Or is that just what he told himself to sleep during the day? Technically, he could have pulled himself away from this shore a long time ago. He could let himself move on, let himself heal. But reality always came crashing back down on him. No matter how far away he strayed from the shore, he would never be able to truly heal. Not even if he had forever to do it.

Another key factor of brooding is that it should always be done alone, preferably in the dark. Dirk had all the bases covered. He was so close to the general population, yet so far away on the empty beach. It was morning, but not morning enough that the sun would be out. He stared out soulfully into the sea, heaved dramatic sighs every now and again. He could have won an Oscar for best performance in MacKenzie Falls.

But he wasn’t alone. 

Dirk smelled him before he saw the human, of course. Hot, thick blood, coursing quickly through worried veins. Sweet plasma making its way across the sand, trying to be discreet so as not to frighten the sad, shadowy figure Dirk appeared to be. Without tearing his eyes away from the horizon, Dirk sensed the human take a seat in the sand next to him. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Dirk was never what one would consider a social butterfly, even when he was alive. Greeting someone who clearly had an agenda wasn’t on the list of top three things Dirk Strider excels at. Luckily, it was the stranger that spoke up first. 

“Hey, um.”

Brilliant start. He’d better watch out, suddenly there was real competition for that Oscar. The stranger continued, his voice careful. He was just loud enough that Dirk could hear him over the crashing waves.

“I know we don’t know each other, but… I don’t know. I noticed you sulking on the other side of the beach, and I thought hey, I’m sulking on this side of the beach. How grand would it be if I had a partner to sulk with, instead of sitting alone?”

He should have refused. He should have turned the poor human away, told him that he preferred to do his sulking in peace. It was the irresistible hunger in him that allowed the stranger to sit. Dirk had been surviving off of reheated frozen blood for far too long for someone of his clan. Ventrue thrived on fresh, high quality blood, not the vampire equivalent of shitty take-out. It’d been far too long since Dirk had fed directly from a human.

He finally took a leap of faith, peeking over at the stranger. Seeing in the dark would be no problem. His features should have been clear as day. Still, when Dirk looked over at the foolish human sitting in the sand beside him, he concluded that he must have been hallucinating right away.

“...Jake?” he managed. His voice was barely above a whisper, the single syllable struggling to leave his mouth, as if he was afraid that if spoke Jake’s name into existence, he would disappear.

The stranger sitting beside him turned. Dirk’s heart sank deep into his stomach. The human could have been a direct copy of him. His messy black hair, his toned arms, the glasses that sat crooked on his nose, the eyes that stared up at him in wondrous curiosity. 

The blue eyes staring up back at him. 

“...I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.” Dirk forced himself to look away from the human and back out into the horizon. Of course it wouldn’t have been Jake. That was a stupid thought to begin with. Jake was long gone, swept away by forces more powerful than he could control. 

Surprisingly, the stranger was not bothered by the mistake in identity. He simply brushed it aside as if it were no big deal. Of course it wouldn’t have been to him. There was no way he could understand just exactly who Jake had been, why the striking similarities between them made Dirk’s heart ache. Instead of making a fuss over it, however, the stranger flashed a wide, lopsided smile. He didn’t press Dirk for information, didn’t push to know more details. He just continued on and on about his own life, explaining the story with wide hand gestures, flashing that same charming smile. 

His name was John. He seemed to be eager to spill everything in his soul out to Dirk. The strange part was, the more John talked, the less Dirk saw him as a meal and more as a lovable goofball of a human who happened to be down on his luck. He explained how he’d moved to Hollywood to pursue a career in stand-up, but hadn’t gotten much further than a few open mic shows. That he wasn’t discouraged yet, but a he only had a few more month’s rent left in his savings.

The most infectious thing about him was his laugh. That sweet, full-bodied, genuine giggle at the end of every joke he made slowly worked its way through Dirk’s stony defense. No one had been able to make him crack even so much as a grin in years, but John…

John made him smile. 

That in itself was dangerous. Dirk had sworn off relationships with humans after everything that happened with Jake. His smile faded as reality came crashing back down on him. Sure, it was nice to live in some perfect fantasy where Dirk Strider lived happily ever after for a few hours. But the truth of the matter was he just couldn’t handle another case of heartbreak. Hell, up until he’d met the human next to him, he’d been mostly convinced that he’d never feel anything close to affection for someone other than his dear blood sibling ever again. 

But god damn it, if this kid didn’t make it impossible not to like him. Every animated story and toothy grin seemed to tug at Dirk’s heartstrings harder than the last. If his heart were still beating, it probably would have been going a mile a minute. He spared a quick glance over the ocean horizon, noticing that the sky wasn’t as dark as it had been when he sat down. On the list of things that were Definitely Not A Good Sign, the rising sun clocked in damn near close to number one. 

The smile melted off his face. Right. Back to reality. He forced himself to stand, brushing the sand off of his clothes. 

“Hey, uh. It was cool talking to you and everything, but I really oughta get going. You should, too. Get some sleep before your next hit show, right?” God damn it. He was so awkward. Just say later like a normal ass person. 

“Haha, right! Totally!” came the reply. Smooth as butter, Mr. Dirk Strider was. Yes indeed. The author of 22 Rules for Massive Success With Women would beg to kiss the heel of charisma king Dirk Strider. But not even a PhD in talking to cute boys without crippling bouts of gay panic could prepare him for when John asked for his number. Y’know, to stay in touch, he said. 

Dirk stared down at him. John’s face was just so genuine, so hopeful. Dirk didn’t bother maintaining any friendships with humans. If anything, they were more stressful than their worth. Under no circumstances should a human find out about vampire society and continue to live on their own. It was far too dangerous. Being friends with John would mean having to keep an entire private life and hidden society a secret from him. What if he wanted to go out during the day and grab coffee, like a normal human friend would? Dirk couldn’t digest human food, nor could he set foot outside while the sun was out. Everything about accepting John’s friendship request screamed bad idea, horrible idea, abandon all hope, ye who enter here. 

None of that that stopped Dirk from entering his number into John’s phone before he left.

**Author's Note:**

> dirkjohn.... is the hill i will die on
> 
> i've been in this hell fandom for six years and i've never written a homestuck fic. incredible 
> 
> yell @ me on twitter @vamprenjun for updates B)
> 
> thank you goodnight


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